Spirited Away 2: Tale of the Yamikage Brothers
by Tetsuya Amanuma the Alchemist
Summary: 15 year old Yuuichi and 8 year old brother Sota quarrel a lot. But will their relationship change when they, Sota's friend Yuya and Yuya's sister  and Yuuichi's crush  Keiko arrive in the land of the spirits?  Oh yes and Chihiro does come back
1. Foreword

Spirited Away 2: Tale of the Yamikage Brothers

The Foreword

For those of you that want to read this story right away, you can. This beginning is just to provide some knowledge on the story you are about to read. Yes, Chihiro returns a little older than we last saw her, probably around the protagonist, Yuuichi's age (fifteen), if not very slightly older. And yes, Haku, Kamaji, Lin, No-Face and our other beloved characters reappear as well. I decided to show my story of what would happen, what emotional and behavioral changes would be made in a fifteen year old Japanese boy, Yuuichi Yamikage, in high school who constantly makes fun of and quarrels with his eight year old brother Sota. Along for the journey is Sota's friend of the same age, Yuya Kazama, and Yuya's older sister Keiko who is Yuuichi's age. And needless to say, Yuuichi already has a pretty big crush on Keiko.

So already there is that natural tension for Yuuichi, as he must put on a bold front for Keiko and yet he must learn to get along with his younger brother as they are so suddenly thrust into this adventure. Which age group has more of an advantage to life in the Spirit world? Will Yuuichi and Keiko have an easier time because of their quicker means of adapting and their knowledge? Or will it be Sota and Yuya, the little eight year old boys with an open mind, a kind heart, and a strong sense of curiosity and equality to all they encounter?

Ah yes, so I did place Yuuichi in the situation with his crush, so one conflict of his is that he feels obligated to be the solidity, the foundation of security for not only Keiko, but for Sota and Yuya as well. Yuuichi has a lot of responsibility for others thrust upon him, as the "alpha male" of the group.

Another aspect I look forward to conveying to all of you is the childish innocence that Sota and Yuya have. Once they become adjusted to their new life, you will see how they regard anyone as equals and treat them with respect, not a thought about their outward appearance.

This is rated K+ for the occasional moment that includes a bit of blood and perhaps a fight of some sort, it depends on how the story pans out. I hope you enjoy this story and I will do better on updating this one than my others thus far (and believe me, I am trying to catch up.)


	2. Chapter 1

**Sota's POV**

I, Sota Yamikage ran with my best friend in the whole world, Yuya Kazama. Us two eight year olds were playing in the woods near our homes. We had seen the houses, the "little spirit houses" we had been told about. But Yuya urged me to go deeper. I knew that my big brother Yuuichi would kill me once he found out we were gone. But it had been boring. Maybe fifteen year old Yuuichi had fun talking to Yuya's big sister Keiko, but I sure was bored inside the house. Yuuichi only had so much fun with Keiko because he _like-liked _her anyways. Both of them were in the same class and they even walked home together. I rolled my eyes. Nii-san was so _obviously_ crushing on Keiko-chan.

Yuya and I had snuck through the back door and under a sliding wooden slat in the wood fence in my backyard. Yuya and I then rolled down a smooth grassy hill and emerged into woods on the bottom, laughing. I wore a blue longsleeve shirt over a white t-shirt as winter was coming. I also wore neat blue jeans and white sneakers. I have neat-ish jet-black hair and dark eyes. I look like any typical male in my family.

Yuya has longer brown hair that reaches the collar of his blue jacket, which he dons every winter. Under his blue jacket he wore a red t-shirt with _04 _on it. He also wore blue jeans and white sneakers. Yuya is more serious around other people, but not around me. The two of us were absolute best friends. We do just about everything together. And it worked out for Yuuichi and Keiko well, so they could be together too.

"Look Shouta-chan! I told you he was there! Mr. Spirit!" Yuya cried, pointing to a little stone guard. There was a stone archway up ahead on the old road. A small statue stood in front of the opening. It looked like an amazing place. I believed the place looked real. Many people said places that looked like this one were made of plaster, but I still am convinced it is perfectly real.

"Wow Yuya-sama! You're right!" I replied. Yuya and I address each other in this manner because Yuya is only slightly older than me. _Shouta-chan _was a nickname of sorts that Yuya had made for me.

"It's pretty cool, huh? The place must be old because I haven't seen a place like it before." Yuya said, chatting in a casual sort of way. I inspected the little stone man. He had moss on one side of him, and he was smiling. Maybe the arch in front of them led to a happy place. I felt my curiosity growing as I looked at it.

"Yuya-sama...where does that place go to?" I asked the slightly older boy. Yuya looked at the tunnel, considering it for a moment.

"I don't know Shouta-chan. We should go have a quick look. We can make it back home from here in ten minutes, easily. An extra minute or two shouldn't make a difference." Yuya said in a Professional Cute Kid way. I have to agree with Yuya's reasoning. It was not as if there was a reason _not _to go.

"Okay Yuya-sama. Let's go take a look." I agreed. As we walked through the arch, we could not even hear the shouting of my older brother.

**Yuuichi's POV**

"Sota! Baka! Come back!" I yelled. I sighed, running a hand through my jet-black hair in frustration. I had dark eyes and I was pretty strong for a fifteen year old. Beside me was Keiko Kazama, the pretty girl with reddish-hair that was in my class. I had a big, though unrequited crush on her. She was so pretty and it was only by pure luck that my little pest of a brother, eight year old Sota was best friends with her brother of the same age, Yuya. Keiko had come to my house today. We were still wearing our school uniforms, even though it was a good Friday afternoon. Our school had been let out early, so we had taken a bus to Sota and Yuya's elementary school and picked them up before we had gone to my house. I had spent most of my time so far talking to the beautiful Keiko while the kids played. But after a while Keiko and I had made Miso ramen for lunch and when we prepared to bring some for the little brats, they were not in Sota's room. My first and foremost guess was the backyard, and when I saw a slat in the wood fence moved to one side, I knew where they went. We followed the imprints of the bodies of two small boys in the grass down into the woods.

I had just seen Sota and Yuya disappear into that old looking arch. _Stupid kids, _I thought. _That building is probably made of plaster anyways._ I walked down to the arch, Keiko following me. No choice but to go in there and find them. We walked through the arch.

The darkness of the tunnel soon opened up into some room. Sota and Yuya were examining the place. There were neat rows of pillars going down the room and benches all over the place. High on one wall was a small window. On the opposite side of the room was another archway, which led outside.

"Come on Nii-san! Come on Keiko-chan!" Sota yelled. I heard the faint sound of a train. So we were near a train station. Sota bounded outside with Yuya.

"No! Come back Sota! Your ramen is getting cold at home!" I yelled. But he paid no attention. Instead he and Yuya ran through some grassy hills outside. Keiko and I followed. There were randomly placed boulders everywhere out here. At the top of a hill I saw a riverbed with large, dry stones. A set of steps, probably made of stone led up to somewhere. As Sota and Yuya continued on, we had no choice but to follow them.

**Yuya's POV**

Sota and I continued to inspect the area. I led Sota up the stones, pointing out to him that his older brother Yuuichi was following him, along with my older sister Keiko. Sota stopped, sniffing the air.

"Yuya-sama...I smell...food actually." Sota pointed out. I smelled it too, a strong scent of meats, rices, a perfect blend of seasonings and hot cooking and some things I had not recognized that smelled very good.

"Let's go see if we can find where it's coming from. Maybe someone's here after all." I said, noticing there was not a single new person in sight yet. It was oddly empty around here. We headed towards a cluster of buildings, towards the smell. It became apparent that we had not walked into a town. Every place in the area though was made up solely of restaurants. It was very odd. We finally found the source, and there was food piled high. Sota reached out to touch some but I grabbed his wrist.

"Don't yet, Shouta-chan." I told him, pulling him away. Upon seeing the confused look on his face, I added "This must be food for the spirits." He regarded the food with a sincere expression, letting out only an "Oh." in reply. I nodded at him. Thankfully, neither Yuuichi nor Keiko moved forward to get some of the food. Yuuichi probably refused to because he was a bit arrogant about his ability to cook and probably thought his Miso Ramen at home was all the meal that he would need and Keiko saw my solemn look and stopped too. I pulled Sota up another set of stairs and we advanced further into the place. We saw a huge magnificent bath house in front of us. The walls of it were red and it had sparkling big windows. The red wooden railing of the bridge was well-polished so I guessed someone must have been here recently. Sota peered over the railing to watch a train go by. Before long, all four of us were looking. When I looked up, there was a boy with black hair staring at us in shock.

"You shouldn't be here. Get out of here! Now!" he said, almost angry sounding. I stared at him.

"What?" Yuuichi asked, a bit puzzled.

"It's almost night. Leave before it gets dark!" he yelled at us. It was nearly too late for that, as the sky darkened quickly. I looked all around.

"They're lighting the lamps. Get out of here! You've gotta get across the river! Go! I'll distract them!" he yelled. Yuuichi sensed his urgency and grabbed Sota and I in one arm each and began at a run with my sister following. Behind us, I saw the boy blowing white petals at the bathhouse, unable to see how that was distracting. Dark forms appeared around us. Sota cried out in shock, but I could only stare. As Yuuichi ran back to the entrance, which was not far ahead, he ran right into a large body of water. I kept my head over the water and Yuuichi ran us back to the shore. Yuuichi was holding Keiko and saying something to her while Sota and I began to watch the unique passengers of a boat disembarking. I turned to look at my friend's surprised face and gasped. I could see right through Sota!

"Shouta-chan! I can see through you!" I hissed to him. He looked at his hands in shock. Not far to our right, Keiko and Yuuichi were realizing the same thing. Sota got up and ran to an area near one of the buildings. We followed suit.

**Sota's POV**

That boy from earlier approached us. I tried to hide behind my Nii-San, Yuya nearby me. He talked quietly to Yuuichi. Yuuichi then handed me a red thing.

"Eat it Sota, or else you'll disappear." Yuuichi told me, eating his. Keiko ate one and so did Yuya. I chewed and swallowed. I began to feel solid again within moments. The boy moved over us. "Don't move." he said. I watched as an odd looking bird scanned the area, perhaps looking for us. I almost shivered at the thought.

"That bird's looking for you," the boy said, "You've gotta get outta here." Well now I was really scared. I tried to get up along with Yuuichi-san, Keiko-chan and Yuya-sama, but my legs were frozen in place. I gasped and tried moving them.

"My legs...they won't move, Nii-san!" I cried, closer and closer to tears. The boy walked over to me.

"Calm down and take a deep breath." the boy told me. I obeyed. He then placed his hand over my frozen legs. "In the name of the wind and water within me, unbind him." the boy said. I tried again and I found that I could stand up again. Yuuichi lifted me.

"Hold on Yuya, just position yourself between my back and my backpack." Yuuichi said. Yuya obeyed so he was virtually unable from being separated from the group. Yuuichi lifted me in one arm and took Keiko's hand with the other one. Keiko was holding hands with that boy, too. The boy rushed forward and so did we, going so fast like I had never imagined possible. We were soon in a garden

"You have to hold your breath while we cross the bridge," he said, "Even the tiniest breath will break the spell, and then everyone will see you."

We began to walk across the bridge. There were these brown frogs greeting people that went in towards the bathhouse.

"Stay calm." the boy urged. The boy had something about him that made me instantly feel a lot calmer. I stayed near him. But a frog hopped over.

"Master Haku! Where've you been?" the frog cried, hopping up almost enough to touch my face. I gasped, kind of scared.

"What? A human!" the frog cried. But then the boy, Haku, put a bubble around the frog and we ran, Haku making sure we were out of sight at all times. People in the bathhouse were in an uproar. I felt worried for Haku. He might get in trouble and it was all my fault.

"I'm sorry Haku. I don't want you to get in trouble." I said dejectedly. Haku looked up and looked a little better.

"No Sota, you did very well." he said. I nearly gasped again when I realized that he knew my name. Yuya gave me a look that told me that he knew too.

"Listen carefully to what I tell you to do. You can't stay here. I'll create a diversion while you escape." Haku told us. He placed his hand on my head. His hand felt nice and cool and I began to see things. I placed my hand on Yuya, who placed his hand on Yuuichi's shoulder. Yuuichi took Keiko's hand.

"When things quiet down, go out through the back gate. Go all the way down the stairs until you reach the boiler room, where they stoke the fires. There, you'll find Kamaji, the boiler man." Haku told me. I nodded.

"Tell him you want to work here. Even if he refuses, you must insist. If you don't get a job, Yubaba will turn you into an animal." Haku said.

"Who's Yubaba?" I asked curiously.

"She's the witch who rules the bathhouse," Haku replied. "Kamaji will try to turn you away or trick you into leaving, but just keep asking for work. It'll be hard work, but you'll be able to stay here. Then, even Yubaba can't harm you."

I nodded.

"I have to go, Sota. And don't forget that I'm your friend." Haku told me.

"Haku...how do you know my name? Did we meet before?" I asked him.

Haku nodded. "Yes, but you were very young." he said to me. I did somewhere in my mind remember him, but not specifically. I just recognized that he was familiar.

"Good luck, and whatever you do, don't make a sound." he told me. I gulped as he walked away to where the froggy guys were. I lay down on the soft lawn and waited for the drama we had caused to die down.


End file.
